The Best Brunch. . . Boston

Jenni, Leah, and I became brunch professionals during our time in Somerville. We went to brunch every weekend without fail. We have now continued the brunch tradition (although maybe not as consistent) in our respective cities.

Boston. . .

There are a ton of great brunch options in Boston. And if you expand to Cambridge and Somerville, the choices are overwhelming.

My vote for best brunch goes to the place that I return to again and again. Masa in the South End. Why? Lots of reasons.
They take reservations, even for small groups.
They have white tablecloths and good service AND they are totally great when we bring our 20 month old.
Probably the biggest reason is - the food is delicious and their prix fixe brunch is ridiculous.

First, they bring you out yummy cornbread with a trio of flavored butter, marmalade, and jam.
Then, you get an appetizer (carmelized banana empanada, anyone?) and an entree (I tend to get the Huevos Rancheros) and coffee. For $7.95!

You can't freaking beat that. Oh, and did I say that it's delicious?!

Etsy Sellers I Love

I love Etsy! How could you not really? If something can be handmade, then it's probably on this site. I was recently given a little birthday money to buy something on the site and I decided I wanted a necklace -- a showpiece if you will. Something knitted or crocheted or upcycled. It still had to be chic and fashionable. I wasn't looking for crunchy, hippy jewelry.


I found so many things, I had to enlist my fellow bloggers to help me make a choice. I ended buying this awesome crocheted necklace from craftaria. The designer, Marta lives in Portugal and makes all sorts of cute textile accessories. I love the gold ball and white flower together. I think it's perfect for work or for going out.


I have my eye on some other designers too. Ollies Woollies does cool felted jewelry like this gray and olive "branch" necklace.











LiveInStyle has fun upcycled lace creations that look retro and modern at the same time.


Hmmm. . . which do I buy next?

Crappy Black Pants I Can’t Stop Buying

If anyone was living in Boston in the late ‘90s, you may have called them “going out pants,” or “booty pants” (if you went to BU). You wore them with some sort of “going out top” which was probably low-cut and had some sort of sparkle on it. You “finished off the look” with black high-heeled boots and a look on your face that said I may be intelligent but I am definitely available (Harvard, MIT, you took the train in from Wellesley).

As the millennium dawned and fashion styles changed, these became “cute pants for work” which you “paired” with “cute tops” and “totally versatile cardigans you can wear with anything” (a little redundant, don’t you think, BC?). You wore white cross-trainers to work and switched into pointed-toed kitten heels in leopard print because you were SASSY (we get it, Emerson).

Then you stopped wearing the pants. You threw their microfiber viscose rayon spandex stretchy selves into the trash (Goodwill) and moved on. You left them so far behind that you started referring to pants as “pant.”

Well, I didn’t. By last count I have 5 pairs of these pantS. And worse, I wear them. Every time I walk into TargeMarshaMaxx I seek them out. Maybe THIS time they are cuter. Maybe THIS time they are more fashion forward. Maybe THIS time they are made of a fabric that wasn’t cooked up by a scientist in a lab. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

But they are $20. And they fit better than 99.9% of the rest of the world’s pant. So, if you see me out at night, and you are like, I bet she just came from work, 8 years ago. Or, there I am working away and you are like, um, is she going out later, to 1997? You’re both right.

Our Blog Name

Of course our name refers to the fact that we met in Somerville. But, it also refers to a ridiculous cable company billboard with headshots of three too cool for school twenty-somethings. An asian guy with chunky glasses, a white girl with mini pony tails, and some other forgettable but hip guy. Across the top of the billboard it read, "What's Up, Somerville."

We then used that phrase to describe all people that tried too hard to fit the image of cool, hip urban dweller. Many "What's Up, Somerville" people could be found at art gallery openings, coffee houses, and underground indie rock clubs.

The complication is that we wanted and still want to be a bit "what's up somerville" too. So, what qualifies as What's Up Somerville? You'll see!

First Post

We have had many schemes over the years. This may be the first one that's come to fruition. Enjoy.